Sinead O'Connor has added a slate of new shows in February as the Irish singer continues her comeback from a short-lived retirement from the music industry.

O'Connor, who resurfaced as a live performer in November, will hit seven Southwest and West Coast cities accompanied by the reggae performer/production team of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, beginning with a Feb. 20 show in Houston.

O'Connor's latest album, "Throw Down Your Arms," hit stores in October and was released on her own label, That's Why There's Chocolate and Vanilla. The set, produced by Sly & Robbie, was recorded in April in Kingston, Jamaica, and focuses on "roots" songs.

In February of last year O'Connor said that she would resume her music career, telling the magazine Hotpress that she wants to "at least aim my records at a more spiritualized market."

"The shows are the whole point," O'Connor said in a statement. "I can't wait to be onstage with Sly and Robbie. I want to pass on the teachings of the Rastafarai movement, sing the songs and have fun. It will be better than mass."

At the time of O'Connor's "retirement" in 2003, she asked on her website that her fans respect her decision to stop making music. "I would request that as of July, since I seek no longer to be a 'famous' person, and instead I wish to live a 'normal' life, could people please afford me my privacy."

The retirement announcement wasn't O'Connor's first. In 1992, she announced plans to retire to study opera and help children in Dublin, her native city.